The invention relates to the properties and applicability of a mobile station.
A video conference or communication with e.g. deaf and dumb people requires the use of multimedia in which participants may send information (not just pictures, sound and video but also text-based information) to other participants and, on the other hand, receive and utilize information sent by other participants.
In addition to voice properties a modern portable phone may also have functions enabling it to transmit and receive text messages or multimedia messages, for example. Moreover, it is known that it is possible to transmit, receive and present a video image in digital format on a mobile station using a camera and a display attached to the mobile station.
Existing multimedia properties could be utilized e.g. in a video conference in which the participants communicate through a so-called video terminal. In the future it is advantageous that the characteristics of mobile stations and other terminal equipment can be made even more versatile.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a versatile means of communication and a flexible user interface with wide applicability. In addition, it is an object of the invention to improve the characteristics of multimedia communicators. This can be achieved by providing the display or corresponding writing surface in a mobile station with text recognition capability.
The objects of the invention are achieved by using the display or a portion of the display of a mobile video phone or corresponding video communicator serving as a portable multimedia terminal or a separate writing surface as a touch-sensitive writing pad for the recognition and storing of handwritten text. To the storage it is possible to connect the use of a handwriting recognition algorithm for real-time updating and transmission of notes and text.
One embodiment of the invention is a method belonging to the realm of multimedia technology in which the touch-sensitive display of a mobile phone and a writing means, say an ordinary pencil, are used for real-time storing of handwritten text while at the same time the display may output other information such as a received video image, for example. At the same time the text may be converted into character-based format using a special recognition algorithm as well as be displayed on a video screen or on the apparatuses of the other participants in the video call. Texts may be sent and stored in a pixel- or character-based file for later use, say to be transmitted to a mobile communication or other network, and/or be used as parts of graphic images and text on the display. In addition to handwritten character recognition the method may be used to recognize the identity of the writer.